Hi,

I'm an absolute newbie & am interested in using the A7 for writing a 3rd person game similar in layout to Diablo II. Of course it won't be this complex but I wish to create female fighters, perhaps 50% larger than were used in D-II. This seems to mean a figure size of about 200 pixels in size. So I'll need some detail but not as much as in a FPS for my models. As in D-II, figures should change appearance when putting on armor or clothes, or taking them off.

I understand that one has to use Med for the figure modeling. What's all this talk of Maya or 3DS Max? When I checked those programs cost several thousand dollars each. I do not have the budget to spend $4,000. for a good modeling software: does this mean I'll be "very" limited in what models I can create?

Also since I'll be using MED for all model creation, is there a big difference in the various versions of the A7 I purchase to get a better version of MED?

One last thing. I've been looking around to see what detailed female models are available for download or purchase. Using the links provided by 3DGS, I can find absolutely no suitable female models of any kind anywhere. Why is this?

I hate to say that but that will not work. That is too complex for the beginning. I would suggest to start with something much much simpler



A 3D character doesn't get measured in pixels. That's a 2D character then.



This means loots of extra work. I doubt that you know how much.



Good modeling does the artist, not the software.

There is nevertheless a big difference if you make your graphics with MED or Max/Maya. The difference is all the neat tools that allows you to model, texture, rig and animate in an accurate manner

It doesn't need to be the expensive ones by the way. There is freeware like Blender or trueSpace.

It needs months up to years to make somehow useful graphics though. No matter what you use. 3D graphics is a very complex area. And an artistic one too.

Hi & Thanks for the detailed comments. My interest is in developing somewhat detailed characters so I think I should try the TrueSpace v7.6 first. If it seems like I can find or develop a useable figure in this then I presume that getting it into A7 & doing the game programming will be easy.

This explains why all the A7 demos I see are only of racing cars.

I know models are calculated by vertex, polygon, counts, etc. but 200 pixels is just a measure of how big or detailed I need a character to be. Not super high res but a little better than the Diablo-II characters if possible.

Thus I downloaded the TrueSpace ver 7.6 & will work with that. Don't know why it should take a year to do one model: that seems like too much coding. Hopefully stuff created in TrueSpace can be imported into A7?

Gal

Gallienus, what you miss is that you need a ton of experience and knowledge for your goals here. And it needs time to learn that missing bits. Lots of time. That's why it is no good idea to start with something this complex as you have mentioned. That game project is a bit too advanced for the beginning. It is also no good idea to start with a whole character when you are new to 3D modeling at all. That is a bit too advanced for the beginning.

Try it and you will know what i mean

First learn the software and the basics. Then go on with something more complex. And this counts for both, trueSpace and 3D Gamestudio

I assume you are an experience games programmer then?

judging by his reg. date, he is involved in game dev more than 4 years ago, so i guess he is.

At first i thought that but the fact he asked how to model and told us the model size in pixels and started the thread with "I'm an absolute newbie", i got the impression he just registered a while ago and forget about it.

Hi,

take a look at some of the more affordable modelling solutions (blender, trueSpace, Milkshape3D).

You will find that the modelling tools in those packages are far more suited then MED. Some of them even offer a direct exporting in the MDL-format so they can be read directly into MED / WED.

MED is MED ... no matter what version you buy.

What kind of suitability are you looking for in a female model ? If you take MakeHuman, for example, you can create a female very fast. Also, check out Poser to give you some more ideas about "humanoid models".

Cheers,
Andreas

In my experience I certainly prefer something like Blender (which is free) to make models with, rather than MED. I suggest you try using it, the interface looks complicated but with most buttons having a name on them it is easier to navigate in that sense.

You do not HAVE to use MED to model, you can use Blender - you just have to import it into MED for when you wish to use it in your game engine. (As it has to be a MED file)

Ill take a look at some of these cheaper modeling tools and the free ones also.
Which do you guys think is the best of the tools mentioned here? (Not counting the expensive ones...)